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falcon707
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Post by falcon707 » Fri Nov 27, 2015 2:05 pm

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Last edited by falcon707 on Wed May 31, 2017 3:32 am, edited 1 time in total.

cairnsz
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Re: Are new arrangements always necessary?

Post by cairnsz » Fri Dec 04, 2015 6:33 am

It's an interesting question. Whether new arrangements are *always* necessary is hard to say -- I'm wary of that word. I'm sure there are reasons and situations where recycling an old show/chart/phrase/lick is the right move. But here are two reasons I'd say that it's good for new arrangements to at least be the default:

(1) Permission (as you alluded to) -- this is not insurmountable, by any means. But, when you do an arrangement of copyrighted music, you are obligated to get the publisher's permission to do that arrangement. When most publishers give you this permission, the permission granted is for a specific arrangement for a specific ensemble to be performed. It is a "work for hire." When that purpose is done, you don't have any rights to the original music anymore. You as the director do not own that arrangement -- it belongs to the publisher. If you want to re-purpose that arrangement for another ensemble, you have to obtain permission from the publisher again (and you'll almost certainly have to pay the arranger, too). As I said before, it's not insurmountable, but it's not inherently cost-effective. (Unless you work out a deal with the arranger -- "We want to do this piece you arranged for us five years ago. I'll pay you half your original fee to give me permission to use it again.")

(2) Educational merit. This one is harder to overcome. In all my years of teaching within and outside the marching world, I've never had a group of students who had exactly the same musical strengths/weaknesses and educational needs. The whole point of having custom-designed arrangements is that they are written for YOUR students. When you have new students, you have new educational needs. This is true both for the individual students as well as for the needs of the group as a whole.

All that said, I've had a lot of cases where a director will want me to adapt an earlier arrangement (of mine) for their current band. "We've got stronger trumpets now, so those parts can be beefed up; our pit is a little weak this year, so let's take the four-mallet parts out of the ballad for players 5-8; This impact here never quite felt right, so let's adjust the pacing leading up to it; etc."

Anyway, interesting question!

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